[00:00:00] Keith Gooden: In today’s episode of the Motorhome Matt podcast…
[00:00:02] Matt Sims: I give my top eight motorhome upgrades that you can do for just under £1,000.
[00:00:08] Keith Gooden: Not 5 or 10. Eight. In the news, there’s still time to enter to win tickets to the Manchester show.
[00:00:14] Matt Sims: And we answer your questions on CRiS caravan registration, telling your insurer your vehicle’s security features and solar panels for motorhome storage.
[00:00:33] Keith Gooden: Welcome to the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
[00:00:35] Matt Sims: And I’m Motorhome Matt.
[00:00:37] Keith Gooden: Industry insights and expert advice for the world of motorhomes, caravans and campervans. It’s brought to you by www.thatleisureshop.com and sponsored by Ripe.
[00:00:46] Matt Sims: Remember, please do follow on your favourite podcast app. Or if you’re watching on TV or a laptop or your phone, make sure you click subscribe on YouTube. And that little bell!
[00:00:57] Keith Gooden: It’s new show time. It’s a new year. The Manchester Show, the Caravan, Motorhome and Holiday Show in Manchester from the 15th to the 18th of January 2026 at Manchester Central – what’s it all about then, Matt?
[00:01:11] Matt Sims: Yeah, it’s a brilliant first show of the year. Have you ever been to Manchester Central?
[00:01:15] Keith Gooden: No, never.
[00:01:15] Matt Sims: It used to be a railway station and it is beautiful. Such a lovely building. It’s a brilliant first show of the year. It’s only a small show because it’s a small venue. It co-locates with Destinations, so you can explore loads of overseas tourist boards as well. They’re all there exhibiting. We are there as the Motorhome Matt podcast with a stand and we will have some of our That Leisure Shop products for sale too. And I’m speaking on Friday. I am on the Meet the Experts Theatre. I’m talking about changes to European travel in 2026, what you need to know. So stuff that’s changed already and is going to change in 2026. So if you’re thinking of a European trip, make sure you come along to that. On the Saturday I’m talking about best practice for springing your motorhome back into action. So all the checks you should do before you get in it, and turn the key and head off on your first adventure of the year. That’s Saturday, and then Sunday I’m on the food and travel stage with the lovely chef Andrew Dickens talking about European travel changes again in 2026.
[00:02:14] Keith Gooden: There’s still time to win some tickets, though, courtesy of the Motorhome Matt podcast. Just head to mhmp.info/manchestershow. That’s one word.
[00:02:27] Matt Sims: Yeah. Or you can buy your tickets and save on them by heading to mhmp.info/cmhshow.
[00:02:39] Keith Gooden: Yep. Our product of the week – you can spend and save! The big sale at www.thatleisureshop.com is ongoing, extended into January. Now, we want you to be able to buy what you actually need. And with the Spend and Save offers across all products the more you spend, the more you save. What are they then, Matt?
[00:02:58] Matt Sims: So spend £50 and get £5 off. Spend £145 and save £15. Spend £240 and get £30 off. All the codes are in the episode description. Use the code when you’re on the www.thatleisureshop.com website. Loads of new products on there, from widgets to drive away awnings, bike racks and all sorts. So go and have a look. www.thatleisureshop.com.
[00:03:20] Keith Gooden: I always want something off my widget. So this week on the Motorhome Matt podcast, we are diving into your top eight. Not five, not ten, not 12, not 20. Top eight things that you can do to improve your motorhome, caravanning and camping life for under £1,000.
[00:03:38] Matt Sims: A grand!
[00:03:39] Keith Gooden: A grand. First of all, a lithium leisure battery. How much is it installed?
[00:03:44] Matt Sims: Well, these are a bit of a keeping up with the Joneses product. Many people think, oh, I need to get lithium. Do you? If you’re plugging in all the time or driving every few days, you probably don’t need to do it. We have fitted a lithium battery on our van, and it makes a massive difference to how long we can survive off-grid. They’re much lighter than a lead-acid battery. They last much longer and they charge really quickly. Those are the main benefits of a lithium battery. So if you are going off-grid quite a lot, then they might be an ideal solution. We run a coffee machine off of ours via something called an inverter, and you’re probably going to need to spend at least £1,000 on a lithium battery upgrade. If you’re just buying the battery, you’re going to get one for probably £500. But you really do need to speak to an expert if you’re not sure. Because the big question is, is your motorhome, campervan or caravan going to be compatible with a lithium battery? That’s the big question. And there are lots of techie reasons why it might not be. So another alternative – I’m going to throw a parallel lithium product in here.
[00:04:44] Keith Gooden: Parallel?
[00:04:45] Matt Sims: Parallel.
[00:04:45] Keith Gooden: A parallel portable power pack?
[00:04:47] Matt Sims: It could be a portable power pack! That’s very true. I have seen loads of them on offer from big brands. I mentioned a couple -EcoFlow, Jackery, Bluetti. And they’re all coming down and down in price. £500 will now buy you a reasonable portable power pack, and this might be a way of running a coffee machine in your motorhome without having to change anything on it. You just have a portable power pack. Plug the coffee machine straight in it. Easy.
[00:05:14] Keith Gooden: People are obsessed with coffee these days. Just bring a flask. Bring a flask!
[00:05:18] Matt Sims: Well, it might not just be that. It might be a hair straightener. Or I recharge my MacBook. They are really power hungry. So we use a portable power pack to recharge laptops, and they’re useful for recharging drones. They also draw loads of power, so they are an alternative. We are going to unpack a feature of portable power packs in the future. People are plugging their motorhome into it, and that can be risky. It might be dangerous. Stay tuned for a future episode coming this year on why, what you need to know and how you fix that.
[00:05:50] Keith Gooden: That’s number one. Number two, upgraded suspension – £800 to £1,000 fitted. Seems like a lot of money. What are the benefits?
[00:05:58] Matt Sims: Yeah. So this references Airide suspension. We have this on our van. And it’s been an absolute game changer in terms of stability of the van and the ride itself, especially when we’re on the motorway overtaking lorries or even being overtaken by a lorry. It also can help very slightly – they’re not designed to, but they can help level the van when you’re parked so you can inflate the airbags or deflate them a bit. And normally on ours, we can control them on the rear individually. So if we’re on a slight slope, we can tip the van a little bit. It reduces the sag at the back of the van. Most motorhomes or camper vans are often. The suspension springs should be a smile. And very often they’re just straight. And what the bag does is it pushes it down. So it raises the back up and puts the smile back into the suspension leaf spring. That’s the purpose. Totally transforming the ride. Airide, with one R, are Motorhome Matt Approved. And I think it’s about £1,200 to have the system installed. Say Motorhome Matt and you’ll get £200 off, bringing it into our list of under £1,000.
[00:07:00] Keith Gooden: Nice one. And if you’ve ever been on a Spanish beach in summertime, you’ll know saggy bottoms.
[00:07:07] Matt Sims: It’s not just Spain…
[00:07:09] Keith Gooden: No, it’s very true. If you want to feel good about your body, just go to any beach in the height of summer and you’ll see some sights. Solar panel kit, then, at number three in our charts. £300 to £700 fitted. I thought we’d already talked about solar at number one.
[00:07:23] Matt Sims: We talked about lithium power within the van. But how do you recharge the battery? So if you’re off-grid for a time, solar is great because it’s free energy. Obviously, you’ve got to pay for the solar panel. It’s a big topic of discussion through the winter when starter batteries and leisure batteries are going flat. We’ve got a question about this coming up in a minute. So they are a great way of keeping your battery topped up if you can’t hook it up or you can’t start the engine regularly. Now, a solar panel kit – you can buy a portable one that’s under £100 that you just put on the dashboard and plug it into the accessory socket.
[00:07:58] Keith Gooden: You don’t get much out of it, do you?
[00:07:59] Matt Sims: You don’t get much out of it, especially in British wintertime. Or you can put a huge solar array, as it’s called, on the roof and turn it into your house, which I know is covered in solar.
[00:08:09] Keith Gooden: It’s not covered. I’ve got the maximum allowed by law, which is 16 panels. Up to 4K, it can produce. You’re not allowed to on a domestic produce more than 4K. Very nice too. you know, with batteries attached. I’d recommend it, but that’s half a roof’s worth. I mean, on a motorhome, I suppose you’re using less.
[00:08:30] Matt Sims: In a motorhome you can manage several hundred watts of solar compared to your 4K.
[00:08:34] Keith Gooden: Yeah, but it must be said, you know, when you’re generating solar and even using a battery to store the electricity for normal life, you still use some from the grid in houses. I presume it’s like that with with the motorhome. You can’t supply everything from your solar panel.
[00:08:50] Matt Sims: From the sun – no, you can’t. You need the battery. And especially in the winter. I mean, if you’re going down to Spain, staring at people on the beach, then the solar panels are going to work really well.
[00:08:59] Keith Gooden: Yeah, it is going to. It probably will work all day.
[00:09:02] Matt Sims: But in the winter in Britain, it’s going to work for ten minutes and not even that some days. So they can be a worthwhile investment. We currently don’t have one on our van, simply because, say we’re going away for to a show, we’re off-grid for five days. We park our van backstage behind the stand. The lithium battery lasts no problem. It drains down to about 50%. And then I start the engine, and within a few hours, it’s fully charged. So I don’t need solar panels. If you’re living in the van full-time or you’re off-grid a lot, so you’re not driving regularly or you’re not hooking up, solar might be a useful addition. But again, I think there is an element of keeping up with the Joneses, with solar. Typically up to £700 for a solar panel installed with a good MPPT controller, which changes the voltage down from the 40V that a solar panel generates down to 13 or 14V that the battery needs. It’s really important that you get a good MPPT controller. Again, talk to an expert. BlueFix are my go-to guys. They are also Motorhome Matt Approved for that reason. Go and check them out on the Motorhome Matt Approved directory.
[00:10:10] Keith Gooden: Yeah, there’s a lot of intelligence in the electronics behind solar panels. It’s not just plugging it in, generating it and using it. There’s a lot of fiddling going on.
[00:10:19] Matt Sims: There’s electricity in it – it’s dangerous.
[00:10:21] Keith Gooden: Yes. Very dangerous. Mobile internet, £229.99. We could only be talking about one thing. The Belmont Leisure Pathway 4G. You lick, you stick and then you Internet!
[00:10:33] Matt Sims: That’s it. Put a SIM card in. Away you go.
[00:10:35] Keith Gooden: Don’t look up lick and stick on the internet, by the way. You’ll get some pages you don’t want.
[00:10:40] Matt Sims: Will you? I’ve not tried.
[00:10:41] Keith Gooden: Hmm.
[00:10:42] Matt Sims: You have, obviously. That’s why you’ve been banned. Is that why you’ve got a VPN? So, yeah, the Pathway 4G is a very, very cost-effective way of getting online safely and without drilling through the roof. That’s the big one. You can spend £700 or £800 on a Wi-Fi solution that puts an aerial on the roof. Drill a hole, mount the router inside by giving it power and screwing it to the wall. All good stuff.
[00:11:07] Keith Gooden: It’s brilliant stuff, isn’t it?
[00:11:08] Matt Sims: It’s very clever. And having internet on the move feels like a rite of passage. We need internet access, don’t we? Wherever we are. The Pathway solves all those logistical issues of drilling holes and getting an electrician to wire it in. You literally plug it into the mains or to the accessory socket and as you say, lick and stick it to the window or the wall. Put a SIM card in and away you go, and you can take it away and use it somewhere else. That’s the best thing.
[00:11:31] Keith Gooden: I remember at the NEC, people saying to me, but you know, I use my phone. Yeah, you do, but the aerial on your phone is just a little metal strip around the outside. With the Pathway, you’ve got the rabbit ears, haven’t you? Two big aerials.
[00:11:42] Matt Sims: Two big aerials that pull a 4G signal from much further away than your phone can. And the transmission is also much stronger than your phone. And you can tether your phone. I mean, that’s free other than the data, but you’ll flatten the battery really quickly. And if the person with the phone in their pocket wanders off to the toilet block, everyone else loses your Wi-Fi.
[00:12:03] Keith Gooden: Yeah. And of course, the great thing about the Pathway 4G is it doesn’t have to stay in the motorhome. You can use it in hotel rooms.
[00:12:09] Matt Sims: It’s important to say, though, as well as the Pathway, you do have to buy a SIM card. I recommend EE because they just seem to work everywhere apart from one corner of Skye. I’ve found it works all over Scotland.
[00:12:26] Keith Gooden: The Isle of Skye?
[00:12:27] Matt Sims: Yeah, the Isle of Skye. There was one corner where nothing worked. There was no phone network at all. Even then, we just about got a signal. But there was about an hour where we couldn’t get a signal at all. And so you have to invest in a SIM card. You could spend £10 a month. I recommend £50, and it lasts for 120 gig or 12 months, whichever comes first. That’s the e-SIM I buy. And you can use any type of SIM, any flavour. It doesn’t have to be a data SIM. You can shove any type of SIM card in the Pathway and it will work. And if you’re ever stuck, just ring the team here and they’ll help you out.
[00:13:02] Keith Gooden: Number five in our list – an upgraded mattress or topper. Well, you know, just for your bed. This is not technology.
[00:13:12] Matt Sims: Last year, we replaced our mattress, and we went up to see an amazing company, an amazing team called Jonic. And they measured our mattress, which was in three pieces, and it’s got triangulated ends and chamfered. It’s a really complicated shape. It’s in an Adria Twin, and they designed a replacement mattress, which is twice as thick as the one that comes from Adria. There was nothing particularly wrong with our Adria one when it was new, but now it’s worn out. My hips hurt when I sleep in it in my current recovery state. Still, I wanted to keep using the van and make sure I am getting a very comfortable night’s sleep. So we bought a mattress. Now, we went all out. I mean, properly all out – pocket springs. I’m hoping they’re going to come into the studio and unpack it with me. Why a motorhome mattress costs what it does… ours was over £1,000!
[00:14:09] Keith Gooden: Mattresses, even for the home, cost a fortune.
[00:14:11] Matt Sims: They do, yeah, but there’s a lot of tech and design that goes into this mattress. You can get them for less than £1,000 from Jonic and from others as well. But the team at Jonic were so helpful, and it was super quick. They designed it and made it in a few days, and it arrived here, and it is just unbelievable. It is the best mattress I’ve ever slept on.
[00:14:31] Keith Gooden: Is it like sleeping on air?
[00:14:33] Matt Sims: Well, I’ve never slept on air, so I couldn’t tell you. It is so comfy to the point, when I can afford it, I want to put a Jonic mattress on the bed at home. That Swedish company, we have one of their mattresses on our bed, and it’s great. I’m not a fan of memory foam. I hate it. I find it really hot. I find it really uncomfortable. I just don’t like it.
[00:14:53] Keith Gooden: I don’t like it because you can’t turn over.
[00:14:55] Matt Sims: No, I just don’t like them at all. Really uncomfortable. But this is sprung in the motorhome and that’s what I want to go for at home. They are amazing and I can’t recommend it enough, considering upgrading your mattress. If you’re going to spend money on anything, consider that. Let’s face it, you spend a third of your day lying on it and waking up having had a bad night’s sleep … I get grumpy. On holiday, you don’t want that. You want to have the best days and the best nights’ sleep. So why would you not invest in the mattress?
[00:15:22] Keith Gooden: There you go. Number six. An insurance-approved tracker or alarm – cost is between £400 and £900. That seems like an awful lot of money.
[00:15:30] Matt Sims: Yeah, it depends on what kind of tracker you go for. And it depends on what your insurer wants you to have. We’ve unpacked in great detail the whole Thatcham thing. Thatcham seven, Thatcham five.
[00:15:40] Keith Gooden: Yeah, if you don’t know about it, Thatcham is an accepted grade on a tracker or alarm which the insurance companies will then take into account. It’s a standard.
[00:15:57] Matt Sims: There are lots of categorisations of trackers, but Thatcham is the one that the insurance industry recognises.
[00:16:02] Keith Gooden: “Is it Thatcham approved?”
[00:16:04] Matt Sims: That’s what they’ll ask. And if so, which Thatcham category is it? So it’s important you know that. And we’ve talked as well about 2G and 4G. Lots of trackers are on the 2G network, which is being turned off.
[00:16:15] Keith Gooden: That’s the old, old mobile.
[00:16:17] Matt Sims: It is. 3G is gone, and 2G is being turned off. And in lots of Europe, it’s already gone. So that means if you go to Europe with your tracker, it’s not going to work. Are you insured? If the vehicle was stolen, potentially you’re not. So you need to check that. And there’s a whole episode on this. We’ll be revisiting this this year because there are more changes coming. So it might be that you don’t have a choice. Some of these upgrades you can choose to spend money on. It might be that your insurance company insists that you have a tracker or an alarm. I personally would always favour a tracker over an alarm. I hate alarms. I’ve taken the alarm off our van in favour of a really good tracker. In fact, we have two on it. And the reason I’ve done that is that the alarm absolutely kills the battery. The starter battery goes flat in about two weeks if it’s not hooked up, because the alarm draws so much power. The tracker still draws power, but nowhere near as much as the alarm.
[00:17:12] Keith Gooden: So a tracker is in case your van gets stolen, so it can be tracked, and it’s hidden within the depths so the criminals cannot find it very easily. What a lot of them do is they nick something and then park it up for a few days, don’t they, to see if it’s been collected. But what happens when you’ve got a tracker is you can usually get your property back.
[00:17:37] Matt Sims: Hopefully you can, if you want it back, that is! You might not. You might say, no thanks. Look what they’ve done to it! But yeah, you get an alert if it drives out of your storage site or off your drive. And so they give peace of mind. And as I say, you may not have a choice. Usually, a tracker is required by an insurance company. I have found either when it’s over a certain value, typically £50,000 or if it’s a Ford Transit, because they are much easier nicked than a Fiat Ducato.
[00:18:06] Keith Gooden: Really?
[00:18:06] Matt Sims: Yeah.
[00:18:07] Keith Gooden: That’s a fact?
[00:18:08] Matt Sims: Well, no insurance company will tell you that. But from the digging I’ve done from selling motorhomes, if it’s a Ford Transit, the insurance company tends to want a tracker on it, regardless of the value! I watched a great programme the other day on the BBC called Trace, Track and Get It Back, and it featured Global Telemetrics and numerous other tracking companies. And it was an insight into diggers, motorhomes, and cars. And what was interesting was all these vehicles had been nicked, and it was how they get them back and how they go and find them. It was fascinating. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at it. And whilst I was at home recovering from my op, I watched this daytime programme because I had time to do it. And what was fascinating was how many motorhomes featured in the show that were being stolen. And they weren’t all Ford Transits, to be fair! They were a mix of chassis.
[00:18:54] Keith Gooden: Because they’re so valuable, aren’t they?
[00:18:55] Matt Sims: They are valuable. And they are actually very easily nicked. So physical and visible security as well as a tracker is my advice. So I’m going to wrap in with trackers maybe buying a wheel clamp, steering lock and other such physical stuff, maybe a pedal lock, whatever.
[00:19:11] Keith Gooden: A spike that comes out of the driver’s seat. Tyres?
[00:19:15] Matt Sims: Yeah, tyres. Lots of debate around tyres. I favour camper spec tyres. So this is an upgrade you could carry out.
[00:19:25] Keith Gooden: Why?
[00:19:26] Matt Sims: Well, camper spec tyres have stiffer sidewalls because let’s face it, unlike a van which is unloaded every day or every week and goes light, the motorhome or campervan is always at weight. It’s always got the kitchen in it, the bedroom in it, so it’s always around three tonnes, let’s say that. And so the tyres are always under strain. A camper spec tyre has a stiffer sidewall, so much stronger, and a different tread pattern for all year use. And that’s the primary difference. You pay a bit of a premium for them, but that’s the primary use, and they’re used to standing still. A van is driven every day. A motorhome sits around for long periods of time. And if you put a cheap van tyre on a motorhome, the risk is that you get excessive wear on the tyre wall. It can crack or bulge. Tyre walls go white if they’re sun bleached. Campervan tyres tend to survive all of those criteria. I’ve actually just upgraded our wheels. We’ve put some funky alloys on it, and I’ve put some all-terrain tyres on, which are designed for the road and for off-road, so they’re all knobbly. I think they look cool.
[00:20:33] Keith Gooden: Is that a technical term?
[00:20:34] Matt Sims: I’m not sure that’s a term the company use!
[00:20:36] Keith Gooden: Handy as well for dropping in at the supermarket.
[00:20:38] Matt Sims: Yeah, but when I’m driving on that Spanish beach trying to find you and drag you home. That’s him! The one with the binoculars. Then I’ve got a chance of getting off the sand! I probably wouldn’t, but in muddy grass… being front wheel drive, our van is useless on wet grass. But having the knobbly tyres does give us a chance of getting off.
[00:21:03] Keith Gooden: Price?
[00:21:03] Matt Sims: A camper spec tyre… so a Continental camper tyre is around £200. You might get them for £180. You might buy them for £220. Depends on where you buy them. You normally have to order them. Most tyre places don’t stock them. Michelin do one called an Agilis as well. Similar price. That’s each – and fitted. Whereas the tyres I’ve got were probably a bit less than that, actually.
[00:21:25] Keith Gooden: Can you mix and match, like you do sometimes on cars?
[00:21:27] Matt Sims: As long as you go each side the same, front to back, you could. But why?
[00:21:32] Keith Gooden: Well, because you haven’t got £800!
[00:21:34] Matt Sims: Well, fair enough. But as long as left to right are the same! They must be the same size and spec left to right. That’s really important. You can fail on an MOT otherwise.
[00:21:44] Keith Gooden: Right. And warranties?
[00:21:46] Matt Sims: Number eight.
[00:21:47] Keith Gooden: The final one in our eight things you can buy for £1,000, or less – £1,000 for a warranty?!
[00:21:51] Matt Sims: No, way less than that. No. £399 for the starter warranty from Warranty Solutions Group. Warranties are a bit boring, really, and I’ve always bought them as someone who sells motorhomes. I unpacked this in great detail. Our Christmas episode was with Dennis at Warranty Solutions Group on how the claims process works, but I’ve been really impressed by Warranty Solutions Group. I think it’s a no-brainer upgrade. It potentially could save you thousands of pounds on repairs if things fail, because it’s likely to be covered by this new product from Warranty Solutions Group. Head to mhmp.info/wsg, and you can read more about it there and get a discount on the warranty from Warranty Solutions Group. They’re amazing. The product is really, really good. I’ve got one on my van. I’ve not had to use it yet, but I’ve now seen how a claim is dealt with and it really is not a case of, “Computer says no.”
[00:22:46] Keith Gooden: Yeah, just a couple of weeks ago we did a podcast, and if you watch the video, you actually see the screen they use. You might think, oh, why do I need to? Because you’re informed. And that’s the important thing about this podcast. You’re informed! You know what you’re buying. So what are your top upgrades? Those are Matt’s top eight for £1,000 or less. We’d love to know yours. You can put them in the comments if you’re watching on YouTube. But you know, if you want to email Matt, you can as well. How do people email you?
[00:23:14] Matt Sims: We’d love it if you did. Just get in touch with us at mhmp.info/askmatt. You can ask a question – fill in the form or record it. Remember to tell us where you are, hit the orange button, record it, and we’ll play it into the podcast.
[00:23:30] Keith Gooden: We will. We’re going to do that bit at the end. We normally do that. But once he gets going, I’ve got to let him go! So I’ve heard some people saying I’ve got nothing to hide online, so why would I bother with a VPN? What do you tell them, Matt?
[00:23:43] Matt Sims: Well, I’d say it’s like locking your motorhome door. You don’t do it because you’ve got gold bars inside. You do it so no one pokes around and takes things that matter to you! NordVPN does the same for your online life. It keeps your banking safe, blocks dodgy websites, and stops your internet provider tracking what you’re doing. It’s quick, easy, and runs in the background. You don’t even notice it’s there until you need it.
[00:24:08] Keith Gooden: That’s a good way of putting it, I suppose.
[00:24:10] Matt Sims: Click the link in the episode description and you can give NordVPN a try risk-free with their 30-day money-back guarantee.
[00:24:19] Keith Gooden: It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast with me, Keith Gooden.
[00:24:21] Matt Sims: And me, Motorhome Matt.
[00:24:22] Keith Gooden: Time for the Q&A, the questions and answers, where you ask the questions. And Motorhome Matt, for it is he, gives you the answers. If he doesn’t know, as I say every week, he will ask somebody who jolly well does. First of all, Mark Sanger-Davies is in Newark.
[00:24:37] Mark Sanger-Davies: Hi Matt and Keith, thank you for a great podcast. We’ve recently bought a VW T6.1 campervan. Loving it. On first registration, it also was registered with CRiS. My question is, what does that add to just normal registration through DVLA? And what, if any, is the benefit of the VIN chip plus kit?
[00:25:00] Keith Gooden: Cheers, Mark. Much appreciated. First of all, CRiS? Some bloke he knows down the road?
[00:25:05] Matt Sims: Yes, a chap at the pub! It actually stands for the Central Registration and Identification Scheme. It often gets referred to as the Caravan Registration and Identification Scheme. Central is the first word. You can register caravans and motorhomes on it, and you normally have indelible ink on the windows. You get registered, and you get a unique number. And you put that number on all the glass, all the plastic. And it’s an opt-in database where you don’t have to register your caravan. Caravans don’t have a V5, you see. So this is the blue and red doc, the registration document. And caravans don’t have one of those. So you can choose to register it on CRiS and they will track whether there’s finance on it, whether it’s been written off, whether it’s been stolen and when it’s changed owner.
[00:25:49] Keith Gooden: Whether it’s two caravans stuck together!
[00:25:51] Matt Sims: It could be a cut-and-shut. So in our storage business, we will check caravans on the CRiS register. We have access to it as a gold storage facility. And I can check if that caravan is stolen, because it could be someone doing what you referred to earlier with a tracker – hiding it somewhere. And for the sake of, I don’t know, £100 or £200 to store it for a week, they can hide it away in a storage site and just see what happens if the police come or respond to it, or a tracking company comes and tries to find it. And if they don’t, it hasn’t got a tracker on it. That is the trick that thieves perform with trackers. But the CRiS registration, what benefit does it have for you, Mark? I’ll be honest – with DVLA, none. The V5 is the recognised documentation for a motorised vehicle. Being CRiS registered as well is another way that finance can be recorded. You can do an HPI check on a vehicle to look at finance because finance gets registered with HPI, but it can also get registered with CRiS. They’ll also track whether it’s ever been nicked. There’s no harm in having CRiS registration, but I’ll be honest, normally I use it for a caravan, not for a motorised campervan or motorhome. And then you also ask about VIN chip. This is a brilliant facility which is run by the National Caravan Council. And I’ll be honest, they do a pretty poor job of promoting it. This is a chip that goes into any vehicle, frankly.
[00:27:17] Keith Gooden: The vehicle identification number.
[00:27:18] Matt Sims: Yes. It can be scanned from a distance. So on the motorway, the police can scan the vehicle for its chip and get loads of information on it. And if it’s reported stolen, they can track that vehicle on the motorway in pursuit or pre-pursuit and see that it’s been stolen and pull it over before they get into a pursuit situation. So it’s another way of securing a vehicle, a lesser-known one. We see them at the NEC show with a big stand, normally with a police motorbike – or a quad bike, like at the last show! So it’s definitely worth talking to them or going and checking them out if you are really concerned about securing your vehicle.
[00:27:56] Keith Gooden: Thanks, Mark. Thanks for the question. Much appreciated. Now, our sponsor, Ripe, is providing the answer to this next question from Glenn Martin in Birmingham. Hi Matt, I recently listened to the episode with Ripe and decided to get a quote as my renewal was pending. They told me they were unable to quote due to not being able to confirm if or what security my 2024 Bailey Adamo was fitted with, and if it was Thatcham approved. No matter how hard I try, I’m unable to get a definitive answer from a dealer or from the manufacturer, Ford. I got the renewal with my current insurer, an opportunity missed for Ripe if they’re interested. Needless to say, I was disappointed. Keep up the good work and get well soon. So, Matt?
[00:28:46] Matt Sims: Well, we sent this question to Ripe, who responded with: Hi Glenn, thanks for taking the time to listen to our episode. Happy to help straighten out any confusion during our quote process. When you put your registration in and select factory fitted, it will recognise if it is Thatcham approved based on your vehicle details.
[00:29:04] Keith Gooden: However, depending on the make, model, age and value of your van, if you selected factory fitted and were declined, there will be a valid reason you were declined that may be out of our control. Ford vehicles do have some slightly different criteria as set by the insurance underwriter, and this is simply because they have been proven to be more attractive for theft, as they can unfortunately be easier to steal in order to provide cover. We would need 100% clarity on the security from you or your dealer.
[00:29:38] Matt Sims: Ripe went on to say, I’m really sorry we were unable to help you in this instance, and I hope you’ll give us another chance in the future. Thanks, Mel and the Ripe team.
[00:29:48] Keith Gooden: So there you go. Hope that clarifies things. So as we’ve said many times in the past, when it comes to insurance, tell them everything. And they don’t just decline you because of the colour of your hair. There’s always a reason behind it. Take the time to find out what that reason is, because you might actually be able to put it right.
[00:30:06] Matt Sims: That’s right. And once you know, you can then possibly address it by fitting the appropriate tracker. But fair play to Ripe. I said earlier that you’ll never get an insurance company saying a Ford is easier to nick, and there is Ripe saying they are. So thank you, Ripe! It’s true. They are. And Ripe admit that. Honest as always. Thank you. So remember, you can get 15% off your insurance. Just click the link in the description.
[00:30:32] Keith Gooden: Another question in our questions and answers from Ifor Wilde in Chesham. Hi, I bought one of your Pathway 4G routers, but because I’ll be leaving my motorhome in an open lockup, is there a solar panel I can purchase even with a slight battery backup? This is especially for December, January, February – the winter months. First of all, what’s an open lock-up – an outdoor one?
[00:30:56] Matt Sims: Yes. Most storage sites, the premium ones, are indoors. What Ifor is looking to do here is fit solar panels that will keep the batteries charged.
[00:31:05] Keith Gooden: With a slight battery backup?
[00:31:06] Matt Sims: Well. I don’t know if Ifor’s trying to connect a solar panel to a separate battery or connect it to their leisure or starter battery, but you’re trying to do this in December, January and February. The odds of trying to get much sunshine then are pretty slim here in the UK!
[00:31:21] Keith Gooden: Yeah!
[00:31:22] Matt Sims: The sun is so low it just doesn’t hit the solar.
[00:31:25] Keith Gooden: And it’s the amount of time that we have daylight for in the depths of winter. You know, you’re talking about – for solar panels,e because I’v got them at home – four hours usable. And on a bright day, you won’t charge your batteries to 100%.
[00:31:38] Matt Sims: No. Definitely not. And the other thing to consider is that solar panels need to be on an angle because the sun is so low in the sky, assuming it’s out and we’ve got a clear day! If the solar panel is flat, then the sun’s not going to hit it. So those cells need to be directly in communication with the sun, as it were.
[00:31:55] Keith Gooden: Photovoltaic panels.
[00:31:58] Matt Sims: I knew you’d know.
[00:31:59] Keith Gooden: It’s light that you’re capturing.
[00:32:02] Matt Sims: Yeah. That’s right. So yes, there are portable panels that you can buy that perhaps sit on the dashboard, and they can connect to the starter battery. There’s no reason why you couldn’t put a portable panel on the roof of your vehicle and connect it to the leisure battery. I would consider buying one with suckers that fits to the roof. The risk is, because it’s in an open storage site, it could be stolen. You haven’t said whether it’s a secure site. That’s a consideration as well. On our own site, we get lots of people in our storage business putting solar panels on the ground on an angle, and it is secure, and they cable them into the van temporarily. The risk there is that the wind blows them over! I am regularly going around after a storm and standing them back up, and sandbags and so on just don’t hold them. They don’t stand them up, so we’re propping them back up for them. But that helps. But really, my advice would be if you can go and start it, let the engine run, take it for a drive for 20 minutes, half an hour, or take the battery off and take it home and put it on charge at home. And that will keep it topped up. If you’ve got an alarm or tracker, that might be tricky to do. You might have to swap the battery for another one through the winter.
[00:33:10] Keith Gooden: But yeah, but his question there – a slight battery. It’s just occurred to me that he might mean, can he keep something just ticking over while it’s in storage, using the solar panel?
[00:33:20] Matt Sims: Yeah, it might do. But again, as you say, it depends on the amount of sunlight you get. There’s no easy solution to this at all. It is a mix of mixing solar with actually going to it and starting it, trying to hook it up, or taking care of the battery at home with a battery conditioner, a charger at home, and a battery conditioner will charge the battery when it’s going flat. Once it’s fully charged, it will turn off automatically. So you can just leave it connected in the garage or shed.
[00:33:46] Keith Gooden: Right! Don’t be a sucker, me old mucker. If somebody has a question, what should they do?
[00:33:51] Matt Sims: We’d love it if you’d asked it! Head to mhmp.info/askmatt. Fill in the form or click the orange button and record it. But please tell us where in the world you are. We’d love to know, and we will play it into the podcast for you.
[00:34:04] Keith Gooden: And if you’re looking for trusted brands and services, then make sure you visit the Motorhome Matt approved directory. It’s at mhmp.info/approved.
[00:34:14] Matt Sims: And if you’re listening, please follow on your favourite podcast app. Or if you’re watching, make sure you click subscribe and that little bell on YouTube.
[00:34:25] Keith Gooden: Thanks for listening to the Motorhome Matt podcast. Remember to check back here for more episodes full of hints and tips and helpful advice. We’ll see you soon for another Motorhome Matt podcast brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com.
